National Republican., 1887-08-15
PULPIT ELooUENCE.
What God Requires of Those Seeking
His Aid.

His Aid.
Rev. w. w. Jordan. for two years the
pastor Of the Congregational Church at
Falls Church, Va, but now OF Bound
Brook, n, j., occupied Dr.. Newman's pull
pit at the First Congregational Church
yesterday. lie preached an instructive ser
mon, taking for his text Psalms lxxxvIii,1
"Ob Lord God of my salvation, have
cried day aud night before Thee"
"This man." said the preacher, chad re.
ligious experience. The events of life
common to us all came to him, but In them
his experience was different from that OF
many. He was a man Of prayer. Success
and Christian living depends upon this, the
life ou tot which there Is no prayer to God
is manifestly lost life.
Thousand never utter q word OF prayer,
tens Of thousands use prayer in mere
form, says an English bishop. Whit. a
contrast Is the man of this text and his de-
sire. Before we live the real Christian life
we must be able to use these words for our.
selves. The real Christian will cry out to
God about the sin that is IN the world aud
In him. Every one who has had religious
experience has often used the words, Gre.
ate in me clean heart.n We. think the
apostle Paul had q hard lot because he
fought the wild beasts at Ephesus, hut
own nature knows that he, too, has to fight
with wild beasts. What difference to have
God on our side of the battlel
Man not only cries for victory over sin
but for positive holiness, to be like God
Some Christians really "hunger and thirst
after righteousness.n We call those words
| oriental imagery. We do not enough feel
| that they mean what they say. We need
| to "awake to righteousness" as Paul eX-
| horted Christians Of his day. Notice the
prayer OF Jabez "Oh, that thou wouldst
| bless me, indeed" Christ was typihed by
the tabernacle and temple Of old. Some
| who are in Christ to-day are In the outer
| and lower courts; some little higher and
| nearer, but some in the holy OF holes.
This prayer Of Jabez was cry. 1t came
| from HIS heart, and therefore reached Code
heat. There is danger OF false peace con.
cerniDg sin and holiness. Christ, IN the
days Of his trsh offered up prayers anI
| supplications with strong crying and tears
We must DO the same In the days OF ou'
flesh. The voices of this world drown cries
to God for many men, but there comes some
| hour when almost every one cries out to
| bin, There were cries which went up In
the terrible hour Of that railway disaster
last week.
Jesus Christ nailed to the cross Is mighty
| to cave, ana no one ever cried to Him Ia
vain. lie is the Lord God OF salvation.
| LOVE TO GOD AND MAN.
| At the morning and evening services a
| Mckendree Church yesterday the pastor
Rev. c. Herbert Richardson, preached OF
the duty Of loving God and our neighbor
The texts were Matthew, xxi, 81 and 80
The able clergy gymau said that 1--WE were t
love God with all the heart, soul, and mind
and our neighbor as ourselves. "Love Il
God was called the first and great comman
ment; love to our neighbor, the seconi
commandment, and like unto the first
Love to God must be supreme and meas
ured by our capacity and ability. Love X
our reighbor must be subordinate to on
love to God, and measured by our love t.
| ourselves.
On these two commandments said Jesus
hang all the law aud the prophets. Con
cerning love to God II was commanded t
be with or in all the heart, soul, aud mind
This is philosophical and necessary orde
OF progression. Christ knew what was II
man. Life proceeds from within to with
out, and as from the heart are the issues O
life, go love begins there and flows theme
into the soul and mind. Again, IL is fror
the heart that the energy OF man comes
for what ia not prompted by the heart
but superficial and seeming deed
The heart yitalizes and epergizes mar
ard hence duty to God appropriated
begins there. lie Is, therefore, to low
God In all his heart Every element of hi
soul hostile to, God is to b
witbslove to God. lie is to love Go
with all his heart; that ls, with united an
concentrated heart, SO that the man ma
declare, ~ delight to do thy WILL o, IN
Gcd yea thy law is within my heart"
Man is also to love with all his soul; tht
is, in his conduct. The will must respou
to the heart, showing thus their accort
sl... .,,I, ...,.,t l.. Il
fective Is mainly because our hearts are NJ
full Of love, and hence that condition maj
ifests itself in our actions. AS our hear
may be full OF love, so may our every actio
have the same constraining motive. Agail
1t is the nature Of love to demonstrate 4
Existence. Says Paul, "The Son Of &c
loved me and gave Himself for me-" Go
wants the service of our lives, the emplo
meDt Of our activities. We must be doe
Of the Word and not hearers oulY.
We are also TO love God with nil o,
mind. Essci TALLY is mau ration
1 creature. The impulses of his heart az
! | mis- conduct must be directed by though
r reflection, and knowledge. He must stu
the divine character aud word, so that b
hest understanding shall be given to Il
service of Gud, and thus his entire natIl
l. maker upon him.
. Concerning love to our neghbor, 1t mu
be remembered that man had a natural al
spiritual self--a divine image given
/ God-nnd n perverted and sinful self. Il
fist was q proper object OF affection; 3
second w6s not. A man was command
l. to love his name, character, his family, al
: irierds. BY this was meant that he shou
!. DO whatever was necessary or helpful
" their proper development In the lot in i
u in which God had placed them; and G
It had never intended the interest OF one m
1t to be advanced through the injury
:, another's. And to love our neighh
y as ourselves was not only in harmony wi
:, Gods law, but the best way of promoti
II our own interest. AS we demand fro
10 others protection for our reputation, ch;
r acter, person, family, and property, so 0
we to render the same to our neighb
Is The golden rule precisely states the oblis
s. tlon Of the commandment-"Wha
" &c would that men should do uuto you,
r ye also unto them," and the parable OF I
Good Samaritan beautifully illustrates a
= eDforces the commandment.
30 How sublime and ennobling are the C,
ID cepuons Of Christianity which inspire N
a. TO give his supreme affections only to |
~ ali-wise, perfect, and loving God, and to
10 Just and equitable to his fellow-men